Momochi Naruto!
by MomochiNaruto
Summary: *On Long Hiatus* If i don't update this soon, I may as well discontinue it This story is an SI, centered around a Naruto stylized like Zabuza. Really sorry, everyone, I just can't find any inspiration with calculus hanging around my head.
1. Thats one big sword!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I wish I did, because if I had Naruto would have grabbed Zabuza's sword like he did in this story!

Note: Apparently you can't say self-insertion in the summary, so I'm saying it here. My story was deleted for reasons I'm still unclear about, but here's the repost!

Momochi… Naruto!

Chapter 1

I blinked.

It's not every day that one wakes up to be standing in a forest clearing near the ocean, staring at a massive sword that had been driven into a fresh grave. I look to my left. An Asian boy, taller than me, with a blue shirt and a headband stands near. On my right, a girl with pink hair and a tall, gray-haired man. I look down. I'm wearing an odd sort of sandals and an orange jumpsuit, and the slight pressure on my forehead tells me that I am wearing a headband too.

I am Naruto.

I realize that his memories are there, in the back of my head. So is a rather evil presence. That is easily explained. I can feel the surprise of the evil presence, the Kyuubi. I would need to speak with it later.

No longer in my stupor, I hear Kakashi say, "Ninja are tools. That is the life we lead, and the way we die."

Sakura. "That's… so sad."

They turn and walk away. I'm still standing there, shocked at the new circumstances. "Naruto. It's time to go."

I step forward, and, with both hands, grab Zabuza's sword. I pull it out of his grave, smoothing the hole left behind with my foot. I notice that the sword has the name "Kubikiri Houcho" engraved onto it. I can feel the stares of my new teammates. Wordlessly, I sling it across my shoulder and begin walking towards them.

Kakashi. "What are you doing Naruto?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Yes, well, why then?"

Pause. I'm not totally sure myself. "Because, I don't think Zabuza would want his sword to die here, with him. Besides, I can better honor his memory by using this in his name."

He stares at me, but says nothing and continues walking. He pauses. "I'm not carrying it for you if it gets too heavy."

I grin. "It won't."

Sakura is glaring at me, but she apparently won't make an issue of it if Kakashi won't. Sasuke merely looks curiously, and follows Kakashi.

With a smile, I follow too.

**Break**

We left Kuri no Kuni and headed home. Before leaving, Tazuna's friend, who did leather work, made a harness for my new sword, since a sheath wouldn't do.

Now we were walking home to Konoha. I strolled up to Kakashi. "Neh, Kakashi-sensei, will you teach me the Kirigakure no jutsu? Please?"

He looks at me and falls victim to the Puppy Dog Eyes jutsu (I learned this from Naruto's memories). He smiles. "Sure thing, Naruto. I'll explain the technique while we're walking. Sakura, you take the point. Sasuke, scout our flank."

With them away, he begins explaining. "The seal looks like this." He mimics Zabuza's odd stance, with one right-handed half-ram seal held at the forehead, with the other half-ram at chest-level. "Release your chakra into a nearby water source, and saturate the water. Then, spread it through the air. In this stance, the released chakra is automatically molded into the correct shape for mist production, though improvements can be made," he adds, noticing my expression at his stance.

I stare at him for a moment, and say, "That's not very hard at all."

"No, it's not, that's why it's a B-rank technique. Its only flaw is the self-blinding effect of the mist."

I reach into my pack, and pull out a bottle of water. Unscrewing the cap, I place the bottle on the ground and assume the double-ram stance. Using Naruto's memories to guide me in releasing chakra, I follow Kakashi's instructions, and moments later the water in the bottle disappears, forming a light mist around my body. 'Even this little amount of water is enough to make this mist? Even this light mist is enough to be useful, to a point.'

He stared at me, seemingly unnerved, and then I remembered his opinion of Naruto as an idiot. Now, using this technique, I could feel Naruto's chakra reserve. Judging by how slowly the Kirigakure jutsu was draining it, it was massive.

"Very good, Naruto. I didn't expect you to get it so quickly."

"Well, I obviously need to practice with a larger water source to prove that I got it quickly, but it's really not a difficult technique. Making it work for you is the hard part, right?"

He nodded in agreement.

Then, Sakura and Sasuke returned. By this time I had dropped my stance, but I had not released the technique. With a supreme effort of will, I gathered the vapor and deposited it back into the bottle. Both of them stared at me, impressed, as I returned the bottle to my pack.

Really, a little effort made it easy.

**Break**

We'd been back in Konoha for two days. I was exhausted, and Kakashi had given us the week off anyway. I spent the first day meditating and planning my new training regimen. Also

Flashback

I peered into 'my' mind, or more precisely I brought the presence there to the foreground. I was now in the mindscape. It resembled an old dungeon, and I assumed that this must be the seal.

What are you? You are not Yondaime's whelp.

I was staring up at the massive demon behind bars. It growled at me, and I found myself wondering how I could understand its growls.

'No, I'm not. I woke up here, in his mind, and apparently he's not here. However, he left his memories behind.'

Hmm. You are far more intelligent than he was, yes?

'I'd like to think so.'

Good. I hate intellectual weaklings.

'I'm not fond of them either. Perhaps we'll get along?'

No promises.

Then, its presence sank back, and I was alone again.

Author's Notes: Thank you for reviews! I've reposted almost this whole story when I noticed several errors I made. I love to hear your comments.


	2. Whats a myrmidon?

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I wish I did, because if I had Naruto would have grabbed Zabuza's sword like he did in this story!

Momochi… Naruto!

Chapter 2

I also planned out my new 'ninja pentagon', since there was no way I'd use Naruto's original one. I ended up choosing 5 points for taijutsu and weapons, and four points for ninjutsu. Although I didn't plan on using too many ninjutsu regularly, there was going to be two or three that would be integral parts of my fighting style, namely the Kirigakure and Kage Bushin. Perhaps I could figure out the Kage Bushin tai Bakuretsu no jutsu… but that was wishful thinking. I would add that in if I could learn it, but I would not bank my entire plan on it.

Another good technique was the Kage Shuriken no jutsu, which I could, most likely, use on my sword. I reasoned this because when I created Kage Bushins, they had swords if I was wearing mine.

Naruto had been a good brawler, but I intended a different use for my body. I would have to face Orochimaru, after all, and the Sound nins too. I could not replicate the circumstances that allowed Naruto to live through those encounters well enough to survive them, so I had to have something I could use.

As for the other points on the pentagon, I had to put question marks for bloodlines and genjutsu because a) I didn't know whether Naruto had a bloodline, and b) I didn't know whether I would need genjutsu or not with the Kirigakure. Also, I was meant to be at the van of battle, not at the flank, where genjutsu masters would be. Of that I was certain.

The second day, I went out to the training grounds. Deciding to train in private, at least for the moment, I found a sheltered clearing deep in the forest, near the river. I began to do simple exercises with the Kubikiri Houcho: horizontal swings. I decided that I wasn't strong enough to do vertical swings yet, as the sword weighed about eighty pounds or so. This, though was merely strength training. I had to channel some chakra in order to handle the weight, but I purposefully used just enough to lift it.

**1000 swings later **

Panting, I stopped. I could barely lift my arms.

Refusing to be beaten, instead of dropping my blade I reharnessed it. Now, my arms didn't hurt so much. I still had plenty of chakra left, and I didn't think I had to worry about chakra exhaustion (especially with the Kyuubi around), so I performed the Kirigakure no jutsu, using water from the river.

I blanketed the whole area in the densest fog I could make, which was actually quite thick and wide. Just to add to the difficulty, I began doing squats. 600 reps later, I was ready to collapse. Doing this with an eighty-pound sword on your back isn't easy.

However, Naruto had had incredible stamina. So, I was till at more than 2/3 of full chakra. I intended to take down another full 1/3 for now, to see what the effect would be, and to see just how much chakra exhaustion I would suffer.

This time, with the mist still going, I performed the Kage Bushin no jutsu, making 30 clones. 'Damn. I'm still at a little over half power.' I had the clones attack, taijutsu only. With my sword weighing me down, the mist obscuring even my own feet from view, and my "numbing" of the link (so I couldn't sense them through the link), I began practicing the 'silent killing' style of Zabuza. This style was necessary if I was going to use the mist technique, as the vapor limited my attack options greatly if I couldn't find my opponent.

For two hours I dodged blow after blow, my eyes closed to shunt the extra chemical energy to my ears. Each time I detected the attack a little sooner, and I was able to feel the presence of my opponents physical forms a little better, rather than simply sensing their chakra.

Finally, nearing he self-imposed chakra limit, I drew my sword and cut them down. In the span of a heartbeat, thirty pops were heard.

I looked down. My arms didn't ache as they had. Interesting. It seems my healing factor had been going while I was doing other training.

I still had chakra left over the 1/3 mark, so I created the clone with the entire extra. I had gotten an idea while training, so I spent the next few minutes examining the clone's Inner Coil system. With some careful manipulation, I was able to create a feedback loop that would activate when the clone was damaged.

I backed off some distance away and threw a rock, as I didn't want to sacrifice a kunai if this worked as planned. It hit the clone in the forehead, and a bruise formed. A few moments passed, and the clone exploded in a rather large fireball, knocking me off my feet. I checked the ground near the blast, to find that the rock I threw had been powdered. I grinned. Kage Bushin tai Bakuretsu. Excellent.

** Later **

Later that evening, I ran into Iruka. "Iruka-sensei!" I did something very Naruto and bear-hugged him while yelling that.

"Oi, Naruto, I heard you had a difficult mission!"

"Yeah, I'll tell you all about it over ramen!"

"Okay, okay, I'll treat you to ramen."

** Break **

"You had to fight a jounin and his apprentice of ten years! I thought it was a C-rank mission!"

"It was, but that was because the old man could never had afforded a B-rank mission fee."

"I hate dishonest people like that. By the way, Naruto, where did you get that sword? And how did you beat that Haku guy?"

"This sword belonged to Momochi Zabuza." He nodded. "As for Haku, well, furball helped a lot."

I heard that, brat!

'You were meant to. Anyway, I can't say Kyuubi here in Ichiraku.'

Iruka looked confused for a moment, and then realization dawned. He grabbed me. "The seal!" His whisper was strained.

"Solid. My anger just let a little of his chakra out, that's all. The seal wasn't affected."

He relaxed. "Neh, Iruka-sensei, when's the Chuunin Selection Exam? And do you know a good kenjutsu master, or at least a blacksmith? This sword needs a little repair."

"Will you slow down, Naruto? One question at a time! Umm… let me see, four months from now, yes, and yes. The blacksmith's shop is just up the street from here, and a friend of mine is a myrmidon. I would say a kenjutsu master, but that's not katana-style. A sword, regardless of size, needs to be curved and sheathable in order to use kenjutsu."

"Yeah, this sword is way too big to use with regular kenjutsu. So, he can help me, you think?"

"Well, the myrmidon were some legendary fighters from way back during the Old Age, before the cities fell. They used straight swords, but they could use them as well as our sword masters."

"But, don't straight swords dent and dull easier than a curved sword?"

"As far as I know, yes. That's why they spent so much time learning proper cutting methods for a straight sword, so it wouldn't dull so fast."

** Blacksmith's Shop **

"It's broken? Doesn't look like it."

I sighed. "Look real close, near the hilt."

He looked. "Oh, yeah, a slight crack. Looks like a fault line."

"Can you fix it?"

"Yeah, and it won't take too long neither."

The way he said that, I got a sinking feeling. "How much?"

He looked at me, and I think that was the first time he realized who I was: the Kyuubi vessel. He paled slightly, and then he looked at my hitae-ate. His face softened. "Say…400 ryo."

Because Naruto was living alone, and not by choice, he was on the Konoha equivalent of welfare. One could only receive this with the Hokage's approval. Because the Hokage liked me, I received more than some might have, totaling about 6000 ryo per month (about $600 US). 400 ryo wasn't much ($40), and by the look on his face, I think the guy was giving me a discount. "Okay." I counted out the bills from Gama-chan (Naruto's frog wallet.)

Two hours later, the sword was finished. I noticed that he had done a little extra. "How much do I owe you for the sharpening?"

"Nothin'. Just make sure you kill a few bad guys for me, okay?"

I grinned. "No problem."

Suddenly, a voice came from the back of the shop. "Grandpa, do you need help out there?"

"Yeah, I was just about to get started on that order from the ANBU."

A girl, about my age, came up to the counter, with a pink Chinese sleeveless shirt on and her hair in rather round buns. Tenten. She looked at me questioningly for a moment, and then it clicked. "Uzumaki Naruto, right? You were the Academy troublemaker in my year, right?"

"Yes, well, I eventually passed the Genin exam. Right now I'm paired with Haruno Sakura, and that Uchiha guy."

I saw a dreamy look on her face. "Sasuke-kun?"

"Look, I get that he's handsome and all, but his looks do not match his personality and his maturity at all. He has a superiority complex through the roof, a lot worse than any I've ever seen, and he's basically as spoiled as an orphan can be."

She grimaced. "I figured that, seeing the way he looked at people and all, but I'd hoped it was an act or something… Anyway, do you need something else?"

I thought a moment and an idea occurred to me. "Actually yes. I'm told that your family is very good with storage scrolls, yes?" Her grandfather nodded. "Well, is there any way I can get one for this sword? As much as I love carrying it, sometimes I can't afford to be carrying something this size and yet I can't afford to be unarmed either."

"Sure thing." He picked up a scroll from under the counter, and unrolled it. It was a summoning scroll, but the summon mark was blank. He handed me a knife. "Cut your thumb, and write the sword's name in blood in the circle." I did as instructed. "Now, mimic these seals as I do." Horse, bird, tiger, horse, ox, snake, ram. "And touch both hands to the sword without touching anything else first."

The Kubikiri Houcho was sucked into the scroll in a matter of moments. "Now, for you to remove this sword from here is a little different than for us. See this mark on top of the scroll? Just press your thumb to it and make a half-ram with the other hand." Following these instructions, the sword's hilt appeared out of the top of the scroll. I gripped it and drew it as normal.

"To replace it, just do the seals in reverse order and push the blade into the top of the scroll."

"Thank you so much, this was very helpful."

As I was leaving, I heard Tenten quietly ask her grandfather, "Why did you do that for him? You normally wouldn't do that for anyone, let alone a genin."

He merely answered with, "I have my reasons."

** Iruka's friend's home **

The older man stared at me. "So you are the blond brat Iruka talks about so much."

"Yep. I was told you were something of a swordsman. Any truth to that?"

He glared for a moment. "Yes, gaki, I am a myrmidon. That's quite a sword you got there. Looks like one of them "Seven Mist Swordsman" blades."

"Actually, it is one. This is the Kubikiri Houcho, used by Momochi Zabuza until his death four days ago."

"Hmm. Do you need to use chakra to lift it?"

"Unfortunately yes. I realize that it's a liability to need to use chakra, but then again… I've got quite a large chakra capacity. Lager than the average chuunin, or so I'm told."

"Not bad. As you said, however, it's a liability. So, in order for me to properly teach you how to use that monster, that weakness must be removed."

'Damn.' "I was afraid of that."

"Well, let's begin."

Author's Notes: Well, I'm feeling better about my writing, thanks to you reviewers. I haven't written anything in a good long while, so I wasn't feeling so confident with Chapter 1.

I also fixed the spelling of Kage Bushin tai Bakuretsu from Bakuhatsu. I realized my mistake while reading another story.

Anyway, as you can see, I liked Zabuza, and especially his sword. I thought it was a complete waste to leave the sword there, especially since there was nothing stopping anyone who randomly walks by from grabbing it other than the weight.

One thing I'm going to avoid with this story is mindlessly following the canon storyline despite my character changes. The new Naruto will certainly not be fighting Kiba in the preliminary exams, for example.

Last thing. I'm debating whether to pair Naruto with Temari or Tenten. Truthfully I'm leaning towards Temari, because she's just a lot more interesting of a character to me than Tenten. Ino is also a possibility. I **do** like Hinata, but that pairing is unfortunately overused, and what good ones there are I can't improve on. So I'm not going to have NaruHina.

Also, I'm going to go into other people's perception of Naruto's sudden change in the next chapter.

Fixed "yen" to "ryo" after watching episode 85. Apparently that is their main currency.

Ryo actually was a currency in Japan, predating the yen. Anyone who has ever seen or read _Blade of the Immortal_ will recognize the small gold bars with the stamp in the center. Also, back in the day (read pre-1800) yen were worth far more than they are now. Kind of the way one used to be able to get a loaf of bread for less than ten cents in some places during the US Great Depression. Right now the exchange rate fluctuates between 100 and 120 yen to $1 USD (U.S. dollar). The exchange rate between ryo and yen, according to Kishimoto's view, is about 10 yen to the ryo.


	3. Srank jutsu

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I wish I did, because if I had Naruto would have grabbed Zabuza's sword like he did in this story!

Momochi… Naruto!

Chapter 3

I woke up the next day, aching all over. The man had had me perform some modified kata along with basic exercises in offense and defense. Not that a strong offense was difficult with this weapon, nor was a strong defense difficult. It was speed and proper sword technique that had been difficult. Therefore, in the name of speed, he'd given me double the Kubikiri Houcho's weight in training weights, and told me to wear them until I couldn't feel the weight anymore. Then, he had me practice each basic swing over and over until he was satisfied that I was getting proper cutting power from each.

Needless to say, even Kyuubi couldn't heal that much soreness in one night.

I had borrowed several scrolls on taijutsu from the Genin library, and I decided to use the yoga routines in one of them to help with the soreness. Half an hour later, and feeling much better, I dressed and walked out the door. There were five days left of our vacation from missions, so I was going to go training again.

** Five Days Later **

I was at the bridge where we normally met Kakashi-sensei. I was earlier than he'd told us, and so I decided to train while I was waiting. I stood by the water's edge, began exuding chakra from my feet, and walked out onto the surface of the slow-moving river. My sword was harnessed to my back, as usual, but I wanted to conserve my energy for now, so I began a Tai Chi Chuan routine to warm up for our mission. By the time Sasuke, normally the first one here, had arrived, I had been at it for a long time.

He watched me as I continued, and I saw out of the corner of my eye that he was about to activate the Sharingan before he recognized it as a basic taijutsu routine, done in slow motion. I could tell he was impressed that I was doing it on the water's surface.

When Sakura arrived, I think she was shocked at the transformation I had gone through, something Sasuke had largely ignored. I was no longer wearing a jumpsuit. I still was wearing an orange muscle shirt, but my pants were grey camouflage. Over the muscle shirt, I wore a dark green vest that matched well with the surrounding foliage.

What I think shocked her most was that I had beaten her here, and was ignoring her.

I finished my routine, feeling light and energized. I began to run on the river, doing half-kilometer laps. By the time Kakashi had arrived, I had run 25 km. "Yo!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" The normally stereo sound was absent, as I had not joined in.

"Well, there was this weird guy outside my door, so I went back to sleep to make him leave."

"LIAR!" Still I did not join in.

Even Kakashi was a little surprised by my changes. It had only been a week, after all.

Except, I was still practicing and hadn't noticed his arrival.

Kakashi. 'I wonder what's with Naruto. He's been acting oddly. And that sword… it suits him now. It didn't when he first grabbed it.' "Oi, Naruto, it's time for our missions."

"Huh? Oh, Kakashi-sensei. Okay, I'm done here anyway." I jumped onto the bridge and landed lightly, despite the weights and the sword. "What're we doing today Kakashi-sensei?"

"After the fiasco of the last mission, we're doing D-ranks for a while." Sakura groaned, Sasuke snorted, and I kept my face blank. "Let's go! We've got fifty acres of farmland to mow today!"

** Break **

Despite how boring these demeaning… I mean D-rank missions were, I appreciated them for the training they were. They were physically intensive in a boring way, forcing us to deal with boredom that comes from long waits during harder missions.

It took nearly four hours to mow the fifty acres of grass, as we were using push mowers. Kakashi refused to allow us a break, so I ended up tossing my sword into the tree he was sitting in to reduce the weight on my back. My teammates still did not know of my training weights.

Unfortunately, the next four months progressed much the same as the months before Wave country. We'd do two or three D-rank missions a day, ending at about noon, and were given instructions by Kakashi to go train by ourselves. 'Stupid lazy pervert. He's worse than Shikamaru in his own way.'

I spent most of my time working on sword forms. I did end up treating my teammates to lunch a couple times, as neither of them really wanted to turn down a free lunch.

I knew, though, that my fighting style wasn't perfected yet. I would probably end up facing Neji in the exams (I'm truly sorry to say I wasn't worried about facing Hinata), and I doubted that my Kirigakure technique could fool his Byakugan. Also, even if I could beat him anyway, I wanted to keep my fighting style secret even from my opponents.

So, I thought for a while and decided to add a genjutsu or two to my repertoire. First, I visited the Genin library, located on the third floor of the Academy (Note: if there isn't really a third floor to that building in the anime, just assume there is). Unfortunately, what little information there was about genjutsu wasn't much more informative than what we'd learned in the Academy.

However, not to be outdone, I took a few scrolls home and studied them, just to give myself an idea of what I wanted. Because genjutsu was supposed to affect the mind of the target in order to be truly effective, I spent most of my time studying that aspect of genjutsu. Finally, after a month of work and little results, I decided to get help.

I knew, from my knowledge of the _Naruto_ that there were two powerful genjutsu users in Konoha: Yuuhi Kurenai, and Mitarashi Anko. Because I knew that Anko was at least mildly insane, I decided on Kurenai first. Unfortunately, I found little help.

** Flashback **

"You need help improving your fighting style, Naruto-kun? Why don't you ask Kakashi?"

I sighed. "I did. He told me flat out that he has little strength in genjutsu, and what little he does know won't help me."

"Oh. Well, I suppose I can help if it doesn't interfere with my time with my students. What did you need?"

"Well, Kakashi taught me the Kirigakure no jutsu recently, and I use it in conjunction with this sword and a silent-killing style. I've based this on a jounin my team fought in Kiri no Kuni. We beat him, but I admired his style, and I thought that his style would work for me with a few… improvements."

"Interesting. What did you have in mind?"

"Well, unfortunately I'm not as good at concealing my chakra signature as he was. This means that anyone with decent senses can get a general sense of where I am in the mist. I need a genjutsu to enhance the sight-killing effect of the mist, and also to cut my chakra resonance. I've heard of a genjutsu called the Hazy Field and I thought it might help. Do you know it?"

"Actually I do. This shouldn't take too long to teach you. But… why exactly do you need to improve such an effective sight-cutting jutsu?"

"Well… it has to do with the Chuunin exam."

"…Go on."

"Hinata and Neji are competing. I know enough about the Byakugan to know that the Kirigakure no jutsu probably won't stop it. I've been researching the Byakugan, you see, because I was looking of weaknesses in my fighting style."

"Oh. Well, I think I understand your problem. Their do-jutsu will allow them to find you in the mist much easier than anyone else. Since your fighting style depends on not being seen until the last moment, that they are able to find you, even if they only get a couple more seconds warning, interferes with your combat ability. More so because of how dangerous the Jyuken-fu is."

"Exactly. I'm sorry to say that I'm not really all that concerned with fighting Hinata. I've seen how she looks at me, and if she doesn't quit outright she will be in too much internal turmoil to put up a decent fight." Kurenai winced, seeing as Hinata was her student, but she agreed. "It's Neji I'm concerned about. He's a genius, and he's worked very hard to bring himself up to the level of the Main house fighters, so, he's really dangerous if he can find me."

"Okay, I understand. Let's get started."

** End Flashback **

Kurenai was helpful enough, but she admitted to me that her genjutsu required that she not move much while revving it up, and since hers were complicated she usually had to plan them out in advance. The Hazy Field was the only one she knew that would be useful to me.

The Hazy Field jutsu made it so that my body would have a hazy look, similar to strong heat waves passing through my image. This was an excellent counter to the Sharingan, and if I could master it to a high enough level by the time the Chuunin exam, I could spread out the image further.

I had discovered that it actually obscured my Inner Coil system a little, so I figured that, with enough progress, I would at least make it difficult to find me. Added on that I use Kage Bushins, Neji would find it easier to stack buttered marbles than to find me in that haze. Of course, that would only be true if and only if I practiced it enough.

One interesting trick I developed was the partial Kage Bushin technique. I could move fast enough now without the weights to leave mild after-images if I wanted, but it occurred to me how much more dangerous I would be if those after-images were solid. I ended up developing my Taijyuu Issen Rendan (Mass Critical Hit Combo). It involved me making dozens of semi-solid after-images (of course this was the Kage Bushin no jutsu at work) that could cut but could also phase through each other like normal Bushins. Think _The Matrix_ agents dodging bullets, but make those images solid.

Also, when I swung the sword, I had several after-images follow the blade, meaning if I landed my strike, several more would follow in rapid succession with only one sword swing. Because they were semi-Kage Bushins, they could not be detected as easily, and this would give me an additional edge against people like Neji who could see me in the mist.

After some experimentation, I was able to send out the images ahead of the actual blade, so they would cut first, softening the target for my follow-up.

As said, Kurenai had little I could use. So, knowing I would likely die, I went to Anko.

** Flashback **

"Whatddya want, kid?" She seemed to be mildly drunk, but I decided it was an act as I couldn't smell any liquor.

"I was looking for some help with my genjutsu skills. I'm told that you are one of the best." Now I had her attention. I continued. "Orochimaru was a genjutsu master, or so I'm told. Since you were his apprentice, I was hoping you could spare some of that knowledge."

She looked at me appraisingly. "What's so goddamn important that you wanted to come to me? Most people are too scared of Orochimaru to ask what he taught me."

"Well, I think my instructor is going to enter my team in the next Chuunin exam, and there will be two Hyuuga competing. One of them, Hyuuga Neji, is supposed to be one of the most powerful Hyuuga ever for his age, and he's only a year older than me."

"But they got that damned do-jutsu. What good do you think a genjutsu would do against that?"

"Normal genjutsu would be useless. Using them at the level necessary to impair the Byakugan would take a lifetime of practice. However, I assumed that a sannin like Orochimaru would have considered that, since he was supposed to be a genius, yes?" She nodded, looking at me like I'd announced that water was wet. "I've heard stories of him successfully fooling Hyuuga using the Byakugan, including that Hyuuga nuke-nin (missing nin) one from twenty-five years ago. If that story's true, you have something I'd really like to learn."

She stared at me a long moment. "I'd heard that you ha the lowest scores among your graduating class. What made you so sharp all of a sudden?"

I grinned. She'd unintentionally confirmed the rumor. "I decided to stop playing around and take my position as a ninja seriously. In order to do that, I had to stop playing the fool all the time, and I discovered that I had a brain after all. Obviously, since you know who I am, you know about Mr. Furball, yes?"

She smirked, amused that I had the courage to insult a demon lord. "Yeah. That's why I was surprised. You're a lot smarter than your teachers gave you credit for."

"Why'd you pay so much attention to me and my life?"

She looked away a moment. Her face had softened. "I know what it's like to be ostracized because of circumstances you can't control, because of your association with… people."

"So, you'll help me?"

She smirked. 'Oh, fuck. I know what a look like that means.' "Sure, if you can pass my test."

"Okay, what's that?

"Fight me. You do well, I'll teach you."

I stared a moment. "You realize that I don't have enough control over my fighting style to hold back killing blows yet, right?"

"I don't care."

"Okay. I hope you've got some kind of armored arm-guard or something."

She looked curious. I grinned. And then I summoned the Kubikiri Houcho.

** End Chapter **

Author's Notes: Well, I didn't get to the Chuunin exam yet. I've got my own opinions about how various jutsu work, and you'll be able to glean the explanations from reading further. I make list of new jutsu at the end of each chapter to help you remember them, but I'm not making repeat entries.

I also fixed a few mistakes on this chapter with he reposting. Not much new, though.

Jutsu: Naruto:

Important note: All jutsu can rise in rank based on how much work the user puts into improving them. These are the base levels. I will list Naruto's mastery rank at the end of each list.

Kirigakure no jutsu (Mist Concealment Technique): B-rank technique. Only real weakness is the self-blinding effect of the jutsu, which requires specialized training to overcome. However, with the training, the low chakra-draining effect of continuous use raises it to A-rank.

Kage Bushin no jutsu (Shadow Replication): Kinjutsu. A-rank. Only weakness is the high chakra drain. With practice, the clones can be modified to take multiple hits without draining additional power.

Kage Bushin tai Bakuretsu (Exploding Shadow Replication technique): Kinjutsu. S-rank. No real weaknesses other than large chakra requirement. Kage Bushins explode when struck, can mimic real bodies much better until they do explode.

Taijyuu Issen Rendan (Mass Critical Hit Combo): Kinjutsu (Kage Bushin). S-rank. No weaknesses other than the level of chakra control required to make partial Kage Bushins and to modify them to phase through one another.

Hazy Field (I'm not going to end a technique I can't translate to Japanese with 'no jutsu'): B-rank. No real weaknesses, but it can be overcome by certain do-jutsu of comparable power, such as Sharingan and Byakugan (Others will be 'discovered' during the course of my story). Creates a haze around the jutsu, greatly obscuring their body.

Gen/ninjutsu combo: Kirigakure Haze: S-rank. With enough practice in using both techniques at once, th user can fully mask their chakra even from do-jutsu like the Byakugan that would normally be able to in them in the mist. Ranked so because it can entirely negate a very powerful kekka genkai (Bloodline Limit).

Naruto's mastery rank: Kirigakure: A

Kage Bushin no jutsu: S

Kage Bushin tai Bakuretsu: A

Taijyuu Issen Rendan: S

Hazy Field: B

Kirigakure Haze: S

Ninja "pentagon"Tool Skill: 5 of 5 possible points.

Ninjutsu: 4 of 5

Taijutsu: 4 of 5

Genjutsu: 3 of 5

Kekka genkai (Bloodline Limit): 0 of 5 (thus far)


	4. Businessman and Sand Trio

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I wish I did, because if I had Naruto would have grabbed Zabuza's sword like he did in this story!

WOW! This chapter is almost 3X as long as the others. Enjoy!

Momochi… Naruto!

Chapter 4

Training with Anko was very interesting. She was without a doubt the most energetic kunoichi I had ever encountered. Despite this hyperactivity, she was also one of the most dedicated ninja I'd ever seen, beaten only by Rock Lee and Gai.

Because I trained with my sword on my own, she forced me to fight without it during our sparring matches. I discovered that Orochimaru was a far better taijutsu fighter than I'd suspected, as she fought very well, and gave me tips than she claimed to have been given herself by Orochimaru.

More than that, though, she drilled the most ingenious genjutsu theory I'd ever come across into me.

**Flashback**

"Normal genjutsu works on a rather brute-force principle, whatever you may have been taught at the Academy," she was explaining. "The basic theory of genjutsu is creating an image scenario in your head, one that must be practiced beforehand, and both creating the image in your opponent's mind and forcing them to believe it to the point that they can smell things that aren't there.

"This method works on an entirely different level."

**End Flashback**

(Author's Note: I'm still working on this theory myself. Once I finish it, I will repost this story and make any changes necessary.)

Crazy as it was, I began to notice things about the ninja around me that even in my old life I'd never noticed nor thought about before.

I was rapidly beginning to despise most of the rookie nine. Sasuke seemed to be the only one besides me who actually understood what they'd signed up for when they joined the Academy.

Sakura and Ino apparently had joined up entirely for the purpose of pursuing Sasuke. That their jobs would eventually require them to kill, maim, and torture had not even entered their minds.

I had no idea why Shikamaru had joined. Sure, he was focused and smart enough to be a decent shinobi, but he had no drive whatsoever. The same could be said of Choji.

Shino, well, even with my new training regime I couldn't read him at all.

Kiba was loud like "I" had been, and wild as his dog. Maybe that was why he'd joined, so he could get a patrol job and spend more time in the forest and get paid for it?

As for Hinata… she was cute and all, but she was not a shinobi. Not really. I'm glad I had that talk with her.

**Flashback**

"Oi, Hinata!"

She spun around, red as a cherry. "N-n-naruto-kun… ohaiyo."

She appeared startled, but I'd made no effort to conceal my presence, even stepping harder when I thought she hadn't noticed me. "Hinata, why did you become a ninja? Did you know what you were signing up for?"

She looked away, and her response was so quiet that no one but me would have heard it at this range. "Yes, I knew what I was signing up for." She looked up, blush gone. "As for why… I am my father's heir. I must be a strong ninja, or…"

"Or what?" I pitied her. She was stronger than the series had shown, I thought, but she still was not a shinobi.

"Or he will replace me with my younger sister and transfer me to the branch family."

"Oh, that sucks." She winced. "Sorry, that was insensitive of me. So, how old is your sister?"

"She's seven. (Is this right? Does anyone know?)

Now I winced. To be replaced by a seven-year old… that was rough. "So, how can you stop him from replacing you?"

"I must become strong." Her voice had become hard, obviously repressed anger against her father.

"Well, that's easily fixed, isn't it?" I grinned at her, Naruto's shit-eating fox smile covering my face.

Now she was back to the Hinata I knew. "Eto… how?"

"Well, you know what weak is, right?"

"…hai….?"

"So, what does strong mean?"

"Eto… it means… able to stand and fight when it hurts to move… and to win when you have nothing left… right?"

"Exactly. The weak part of you is the part that goes soft on an enemy. The part that tells you to sit and rest when there is work that must be done. The part that tells you to cry or flinch or scream when injured or frightened. The part that says you have nothing left to give when the battle is not over.

"It's the part that makes you afraid before you've done anything at all, or makes you nervous about telling someone you like them." I winked. Her face dawned with understanding while blushing like a tomato at the same time. "So long as you are able to recognize and ignore this voice of complacency, you will be strong." My spiel completed, I was walking away.

She called out after me. "Naruto-kun… how will I know when I am strong?"

"You will know," I replied without turning, but with warmth in my voice, "when the voice of weakness doesn't speak to you anymore. Now, get training! The Chuunin exam is coming up, and you teacher will probably recommend you. You'll die as you are, so train hard."

**End flashback**

A bit harsh maybe, but I had to make sure she got the message. Hinata was cute, but she wasn't really my type. Maybe if we weren't ninja… but since we were, I wanted I girl that I could trust to not get herself killed on a mission.

BREAK 

All of my Kirigakure work thus far had been to combat the Byakugan. With one month to go, I realized that I hadn't considered the Sharingan in the slightest.

After thinking for two hours about whether or not Sasuke would be able to copy my jutsus, I decided that the possibility was negligible. Kakashi couldn't see through Zabuza's mist, and not only was he more experienced at fighting in general than Sasuke; he also had a higher level of Sharingan than Sasuke and more experience using it. Perhaps Itachi might be able to find me, or even copy the jutsus I do under the mist somehow, but until I had to fight him I had little to worry about from Sasuke.

Except… 'Oh fuck.' Kakashi had already shown in the manga (I haven't seen the anime very far) that he had no problem training Sasuke personally to deal with specific enemies. I didn't know whether Sasuke had asked Kakashi to train him in preparation for his fight with Gaara in the manga though, and right now that would have made all the difference.

If he had asked for help against Gaara, then I had little to worry about for the time being. Sasuke would only have asked for help if he knew he had no chance of training hard enough to beating someone in the given time limit. Even now, he still considered me to be nothing more than a dobe, so I wouldn't have to worry about him training specifically to fight me until the month before the Third Exam.

Still, to be prudent, I began to consider ways of countering the Sharingan directly. I had found out from one of the other jounin sensei's that the Chuunin exam would begin one month from tomorrow, which gave me approximately two months and ten days to prepare to fight Sasuke in the third exam. I had noticed that they hadn't paired any teammates together in the preliminary exam, and I hoped that would continue. Even if not, I might not have much to worry about. I would just have to be certain to make more teams fail the Second Exam if I found out that they could.

At our next training session, I asked Anko about it (we usually met once a week). "Sure, they can, but they usually avoid doing that. Unless a really huge number pass the Second Exam, they program the screen to not choose teammates to fight. They feel that it puts unnecessary strain on the bonds of the teammates. There's almost always a fight between teammates in the Third Exam though."

Well, that settles that. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to make sure some of the other teams fail though.

BREAK 

Thus far, my training with the myrmidon was going fairly well. He hadn't upped my weights to Rock Lee level yet, but then again, I was dealing with a ridiculously heavy weapon. That was training in and of itself.

I was out in my practice area, training, when a familiar, and despicable, presence made itself known behind me. I immediately halted my sword practice, and tossed the weapon into a tree, where it stuck. Without missing a beat, I began running through the basic taijutsu kata taught to us in the Academy.

Now, I could have surprised him by calling out to him, but I decided to feed his ego a bit so he wouldn't look "underneath the underneath." So long as I wasn't doing anything he didn't know, any use of the Sharingan would be wasted. Also, I probably needed to brush up on my basic taijutsu anyway. I got sparring practice with Anko, but that was just for experience sake. I needed to focus on it for a while, and since I didn't have a taijutsu style entrusted to me by my family (like Choji and Neji) or a particularly taijutsu-skilled and enthusiastic teacher (like Rock Lee), the basic stuff was all I had to work with.

I noticed I wasn't moving much faster than I had been before I started training like this. I decided that it was a product of wearing 300 kilograms of weight. I was wearing a tank top, but my bracers didn't look like anything special, so Sasuke didn't noticed the strain of my muscles, indicating that I was fighting some heavy resistance. Had Neji or Rock Lee been here, they would have known exactly what to look for, but I had two advantages.

One was that Sasuke simply didn't seem to know what weight training like this could do, so he didn't know what it looked like or what to look for.

The other was Sasuke's arrogance. He had come out here (I was certain) to confirm to himself that I wasn't training hard enough to be much threat to him, and if I was, to copy what I was doing so that he would stay ahead of me. Since he didn't see me doing anything special, he would confirm to himself that I was just a dobe, and that he was superior to me.

This meant he wouldn't question why I had thrown away my sword the moment he got in range. He would just assume that I had gotten fed up with trying to use the thing. Thus far, I hadn't looked in his direction, so when I finally turned enough for him to see my face, I made sure that I was wearing a frustrated expression. His genius mind would make the connection, and he would assume coincidence. This would not have worked on Neji, or Shino, or Shikamaru or any of the other geniuses (or even most regular ninja) I know or have heard of because none of them had a superiority complex anywhere near as bad as Sasuke.

It was funny how being so superior magnified your little weaknesses.

I continued training for about two hours, which is what my old stamina and Naruto's attention span would have allowed. I rested for way too long, cursing loudly about "Sasuke-teme" not beating me, and how I would become Hokage, and then got up and began doing the same thing. Thus far, I had repeated the same kata 87 times, and I had noticed that it was becoming harder to sense Sasuke's presence. It hit me. 'Damn, I'm glad I threw my sword away when I did. He's been using the Sharingan the whole time, making sure I wasn't doing anything he wasn't doing. I wonder how his superiority complex is rationalizing using his dojutsu for this long on a "dobe". Hmm.'

I had wondered for some time how Sasuke had managed to copy Rock Lee's speed for the Third Exam. He never got to see Rock Lee moving at full speed, nor did he get to see him with his Gates unlocked. How could he have possibly copied his entire fighting style and even his speed from that little encounter before the First Exam? It didn't seem possible. Every time Rock Lee had fought after that, Sasuke had been either unconscious or simply not there.

I could understand how speed could be copied. The Sharingan allowed the user to copy even the smallest muscle movements of its target, so it stands to reason that it would be able to copy its intensity. That easily explained why he couldn't move that fast for as long as Lee could, as the human body would require months of conditioning to withstand that level of muscle use.

Which meant it was really good that Sasuke was so far away. His Sharingan wouldn't be able to copy my muscle contraction intensity at this range, since he wouldn't be able to see enough detail. I wondered if he knew that?

But still, how had Lee's entire fighting style been copied? Then, it hit me. He hadn't. Kakashi had.

'That… son of a bitch!' My own sensei had stolen the only valuable skill that someone with nothing had, and had given it to someone with everything. Sasuke might have been able to fight Gaara without it. I don't think Gai would have been angry with Kakashi for stealing Lee's speed for himself. He couldn't have helped it. He'd needed the Sharingan to be able to follow the fight at all from what I'd gathered, and it seemed like the "copy" function couldn't be switched off. Hell, I wouldn't have been angry with Kakashi for that either.

But he'd stolen it and gave it to his prize student. The level of wrong there just couldn't work itself into my conscious. For the life of me I couldn't understand why Gai hadn't _killed_ Kakashi after that display. I would have. If somehow Kakashi, or Sasuke, had been able to steal the Rasengan from Naruto, I was damn sure that Jiraiya would have killed the both of them. And it would have been the right thing to do, considering how wrong that was.

It was different to steal an enemy's technique, because they were trying to kill you. But stealing an entire fighting style from a fellow Leaf ninja, just to help you fight better… it was like raping a comrade. Sure you got your rocks off, but you had to betray a friend to do it.

'Enough. I don't need to think about this anymore. I've made the decision that Kakashi is a complete asshole for doing that, and Sasuke is an arrogant fool. I don't need to let this disrupt my training.'

So I continued with my katas.

BREAK 

The month passed by much in that fashion. Every two or three days, Sasuke would come out and watch me, presumably with the Sharingan active, for several hours, and then leave. After the first week, I was able to predict what days he would come out, so I hit upon a strategy.

I created an Advanced Kage Bushin (I had discovered these while working on the Kage Bushin tai Bakuretsu). The only real difference between these clones and the normal shadow clones I made were that they had a complete Inner Coil system, making them virtually indistinguishable from a regular person. I simply added in approximately the same amount of chakra I'd had 4 months ago, added a little more, and sent it to my old training spot.

The first time, I sat there, watching Sasuke as he watched my clone. I was way off to the side, out of his peripheral vision, but his higher senses didn't kick in because I was technically still in sight range. I pulled out a pair of binoculars and aimed them at his face, looking specifically at his eyes. If somehow he'd copied my Kage Bushin technique, his should not be able to use the Sharingan. 'I see… red eyes. I can only see two marks. Can't see the third, but I doubt he has it yet.'

That confirmed that it was really him watching my Kage Bushin. I left, now certain that he'd been fooled by my clone, and found a new spot further up-river to train at. Since chakra was no longer necessary to lift my weapon, I made sure to keep all of my _tenketsu_ closed so I wasn't leaking any chakra.

The end of the month came. We'd just completed a mission, and I was walking away from the meeting place. Up till now, I had been suppressing the lion's share of my chakra so that my "teammates" (I didn't really consider them such) wouldn't notice the difference. If Kakashi noticed, he didn't let on.

In truth, my chakra resolve had nearly quintupled during the last five months.

I turned a corner, and saw a familiar sight. A rather tall boy dressed in black, carrying a bandaged cylindrical object on his back. A rather sexy blond girl, a bit shorter than him but unfortunately taller than me, stood near, a large war fan on her back. Nearby, I could sense a violent presence.

'So, the Sand sends its finest.'

Unperturbed by the strangers, I casually strolled up to the two in the street. "Good day, fellow shinobi of the Sand. What brings you to Konoha? The Chuunin Exam, I presume?"

Now, I wasn't deliberately trying to be charming, but I was trying to be friendly. Eve so, Temari blushed slightly as she answered. 'He's cute!' "Yes, actually. I'm Sabaku no Temari, this is my brother Kankuro. Somewhere around here is my younger brother Gaara."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. Is that your brother there in the tree?"

Gaara stepped into view, hanging upside-down from a branch. Temari blanched slightly, obviously terrified of her brother, and said, "Yes, that's Gaara. How did you know he was there?"

Kankuro: 'This guy is really good. Gaara's stealth skills are elite.'

"Well, he did a fair job of concealing his presence. However, _youki_1 is not so easily disguised."

Both of them paled, and Gaara twitched before disappearing in a flash of sand and joining us in the street. His eyebrow raised. "You can sense _youki_? There are few enough ninja who even know of it."

"Well, let's just say you and I seem to have something in common, container of the Sabaku no Shukaku."

Now they looked scared, and somehow impressed also. "As I was saying, do you need help?"

Temari recovered quickly. "Actually, since Kankuro lost the map, we've been trying without success to find the hotel we were going to stay at."

"Oh? Which hotel is that"

"The _Desert Oasis_."

"Oh, I'm sorry, they closed down about five months ago."

Temari looked worried. She turned to Kankuro. "Now where the hell are we going to stay?" she demanded.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know, you idiot! I don't live here!"

"Please, if I may?" They both nodded, glaring at each other. "I have some extra room in my apartment, and I have guests so rarely. Perhaps you could stay with me?"

Temari, ever polite when shown politeness, answered, "We wouldn't want to impose," but she looked hopeful.

"I never have guests, and there's so much room I don't use it makes no difference."

BREAK 

The three agreed, but Temari insisted on repaying me somehow. So I suggested a date. Face redder than a desert sunset, she agreed.

Sometime ago, I noticed that no one else lived in the same apartment building as me. I talked to the landlord, and it turned out that no one wanted to share a building with me. So, I offered to buy the land and building from him. Since no one else wanted it (the Hokage had forbidden evicting me), he was steadily losing money paying for the utilities for a building this size and taxes. He wanted it off his hands more than he wanted a good price.

I got the whole building for 900 ryo (about 90$, this was cheap but not dirt cheap for their universe, adjusted for inflation this was about $3000).

I'd spent much of my free time fixing up the building with help from my Kage Bushins, to the point where I was sending an advanced Kage Bushin on missions instead of coming myself. It was a four-story building, and after being fixed up (instead of buying new parts, I simply scrounged them up or made them) I was able to rent out the bottom floor.

All told, I spent about 1200 ryo buying and fixing it up, and after collecting the first month's rent (I had to have it cheap or no one would room with the "demon"), I'd made back half of what I'd bought it for. I'd made the top floor my living space, and the third floor was just storage. Since I didn't need hired help (the previous owner couldn't afford it since I was the only renter) I saved a lot of money, and after two months I'd made back the full 1200 ryo (less taxes and expenses).

Now in the third month, more of the rooms filled up, and I raised the rent. There were 30 rooms to a floor, and I'd been charging only 20 ryo a month (adjusted for inflation, about $70 a month); after I raised that to 60 ryo per month, I was seeing a genuine profit margin.

Since I had extra room, and they were my guests, I didn't charge the Sand Trio.

END CHAPTER 

Author's Notes: Wow. I can't believe it took me this long to write this chapter. For those of you looking for action, I'm going to try to get all the way to the preliminaries next chapter. Well, this is nearly 3X as long as the previous chapters.

I've also been working on my (finally) newly titled story "True Survivor in an Undead World", and that's part of the reason why I was so late releasing this.

So, Naruto is a businessman! The fact that he is taking in a fair profit line will matter later on in the story, as I plan to have him build his own Clan manor later on, and since land in central Konoha is just as much of a premium as in normal cities, this won't be cheap.

As you can tell, I'm not a big fan of Sasuke. There won't be senseless Sasuke-bashing, but I will make sure Naruto kicks his ass during the Third Exam I want to make it good though, and think everything through, so it won't be just a beat down.

Some people have asked about the Kage Bushins. Yes, a normal Kage Bushin does have an Inner Coil system. Yes, they can use jutsu. However, the Inner Coil system of a normal Kage Bushin is incomplete, meaning it cannot sustain itself. Kage Bushins slowly drain chakra (or at least they do in my story) the longer they are active. These Advanced ones do not consume additional chakra, as they have a limited ability to refill their own reserves. One can even sever the link between a Kage Bushin and its creator completely and the clone will be self-sustaining for a limited amount of time (no more than two hours by my story). However, they cannot refill it past the point of their original chakra endowment (that is, however much Naruto gives them when he creates them, that's their maximum).

Also, not all of the chakra, expended after a Kage Bushin is destroyed, is returned with a normal Kage Bushin. Almost all of it returns with these. As a final note, the Sharingan is able to distinguish a Bushin or Kage Bushin from a normal human, seen in the manga during the fight with the Rain-nins in the Second Exam. However, because the Inner Coil system of the Advanced Kage Bushin is complete, it cannot tell.

I noticed that some people complained about the lack of fighting. Well, training is important, too. Simply saying that Naruto trained very hard for five months is pointless, and it detracts from a rich story. There will continue to be flashbacks, but chapters where the main focus is training have officially ended.

Also, as for why the Sand Trio came along so easily, one it's free, and two, they are expecting something nasty from me, so better that they are close so that they can see it coming.


End file.
